HENRY J. FRANKLIN. 299 



Bomdus Polaris Cresson, Proc. Ent. Soc. Phila., II, 1863, p. 101, n. 

 27, 9 c?. 

 MacLachlan, Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool., XIV, 1877, p. 



106, c?. 

 Cresson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, VII, p. 231, 1879 



(Catal.). 

 Cresson, Syn. Hym. No. Amer., 1887, p. 308. 

 Dalla Torre, Cat. Hym., X, 1896, p. 540. 

 " nidulans H. Friese, Ann. du Mus. Zool. de I'Acad. Imp. des 



Sci. de St. Petersbourg, 1904, Tome IX, no. 4. 

 " polaris H. Friese, ibid. 



Types. — Probably in the collection of the British Museum, 

 but they may have lost their identity as Col. Bingham was 

 unable to locate them definitely for me. 



Pi/ e long and fine. Females with head black. Dorsum of thorax yel- 

 low, with a broad black band betwee?t the bases of the wings. Dorsum a/ 

 abdomen with segments one and two yellow ; segment three usually largely 

 covered with dark pile, but with considerable yellow pile running across 

 the middle or apical portion of the segment, sometimes entirely yellow ; 

 segtnent four sotnetitnes with som.e black pile on its basal portion, but 

 usually covered entirely with ferruginous-yellow pile {of varying shade); 

 segment five entirely covered with ferrtiginous-yellow pile ; segm,entsix, 

 of the females, largely black, but with C07isiderable ferruginous yellow 

 hair, in the male entirely yellow-ferruginous ; segment seven of the male 

 entirely ferruginous-yellow. Venter and legs [including the corbicular 

 fringes) of the females dark. Malar space rather long. 



Queen. Head. — Face, occiput and cheeks black, with at most only 

 a very slight sprinkling of light hairs. Malar space distinctly longer 

 than its width at apex ; about one-third as long as the eye. Clypeus 

 rather smooth and shining on the disc, at most only moderately punc- 

 tate. Third antennal segment distinctly longer than the fifth, the fifth 

 distinctly longer than the fourth. 



Thorax. — Dorsum covered with light yellow pile, except for a very 

 wide black interalar band (this band being more than one-half as wide 

 — from front to rear — as it is long — from wing base to wing base) ; 

 mesopleura usually covered for the most part with dark brown or 

 black pile, but often with the yellow pile extending down more than 

 half-way from the dorsum to the bases of the legs (in anything like 

 typical specimens, however, never reaching the bases of the legs) . 

 Metapleura variable, sometimes almost entirely dark and sometimes 

 with mostly pale yellow pile. Sides of the median segment usually 

 with very little or no light pile. 



Abdomen. — Dorsum : segments one and two clothed with light yel- 

 low pile ; segment three usually covered very largely with black pile, 

 but usually with a more or less strong touch of light yellow pile run- 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XXXVIII. 



